On June 15, 2018, China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) released an announcement, waiving the following official fees as of August 1, 2018:

• The Patent Registration Fee – RMB 200 (around US$ 30) for invention patent or RMB 150 (around US$ 23) for utility / design patent;
• The Printing Fee for Patent Gazette – RMB 50 (around US$ 8);
• The Fee for Changing Bibliographic Data of Patent Agency – RMB 50 (around US$ 8) and
• The Transmittal Fee for PCT application where the SIPO is the receiving office – RMB 500 (around US$ 76).

In the meantime, if a patent applicant or patentee meets the criteria for annuity reduction as set in Article 3[1] of the Measures on Reduction of Patent Official Fees, the reduction period will be extended from 6 years, calculated from the year of grant, to 10 years. Though not ruling out foreign applicant / patentee, this practice is commonly perceived as merely applicable to domestic applicant / patentee (small-size business or low-income individual). It still remains to be seen what documentation a foreign applicant is required by the agency to submit if to apply for annuity reduction in practice.

Furthermore, as of August 1, 2018, where an invention patent application has entered into substantive examination procedure, unless a response had been filed, the applicant is entitled to request a refund of 50% official fee for substantive examination, if an application of withdrawal is filed on his/its own accord prior to the expiration of the statutory time limit set for the response to the First Office Action. The refund may be up to RMB 1,250 (around US$ 189).

The above measures are purported to alleviate the financial burden of the applicant.

Contributor: Ms. Ning ZHENG